Lansdale resident Helen Gerhold started playing the piano when she was just 3 years old. “My aunt said I played piano like an elephant,” she recalled.

But her aunt must have seen some sort of musical talent in her niece; when Gerhold turned 5, her aunt bought her a harp. Thirteen years later, the Germantown Academy senior has been chosen as a substitute harpist for the Philadelphia Orchestra.

When she was in seventh grade, Gerhold started playing with the Philadelphia Young Artists Orchestra, one of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra’s many groups. “Originally I was scared,” she said of the experience. “They didn’t have another harpist; I was the only one there.” Gerhold eventually got over that fear, though, and came to love playing with an orchestra.

Earlier this year, she heard from her harp teacher that the Philadelphia Orchestra was holding auditions for its substitute harpists. The substitutes fill in whenever a musician is out sick, Gerhold explained, or if they need more than the orchestra’s two harpists to play a certain piece.

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After applying to be a substitute in January, she got the chance to audition in the Kimmel Center in early February. She was one of 40 or so harpists that were called in to audition, she said, most of which were either in college or had already graduated. It was a blind audition, though; the judges couldn’t see her play. “They didn’t know who I was at all,” she said.

The orchestra ended up choosing four harpists, two on an “A-list” and two on a “B-list.” Gerhold was picked as one of the B-list harpists, meaning that she’ll be called in as a substitute if the A-list harpists are unavailable. Later in the spring, she’ll spend a week with the orchestra learning and playing their music. Her performance during that trial week will determine whether or not she’ll keep her spot as a substitute.

Before the audition, “I didn’t know where I was in the harp world — my caliber of playing,” Gerhold said. Now that she has a better idea of how she compares to professional harpists, she can make a more informed decision about whether or not she wants to study harp in college.

But she’s not ready to make that decision quite yet. “I applied to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia,” Gerhold said, “and I sent in supplements for harp to other more academic schools.” As for what she’ll major in at a more academic school, “it’s pretty open, because music can go in a lot of different directions,” she said. She’s thinking about studying neuroscience or psychology, specifically focusing on how music affects the brain, or music business.

One thing Gerhold has struggled with is deciding if music is worth all of the hard work she’s put into it throughout the years. “I’ve been missing out on being a teenager. I’m invited to a party, but I have to practice for a concert or something like that,” she said. “That’s always been a question going through my mind: Is it all worth it? Is what I’m doing really going to affect my future?”

Recently, though, she’s started to see herself as a professional musician, and she’ll get a closer look at the potential career later this spring, For her senior project, Gerhold has decided to tour China with the Philadelphia Orchestra, following them for 10 days as they perform in Shanghai and Beijing. “My harp teacher and I have always discussed going to China,” she said. “I’m half-Chinese, I can kind of speak Chinese, I know the culture pretty well.” Going with a professional orchestra will allow her to “experience an orchestral musician’s life” and decide if it’s right for her, she said.